June 12, 2026
Hafiz Ullah Storai Sherani
ISLAMABAD
Today, the World Day Against Child Labour across the world. But in one area of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, 16 year-old Muhammad Bilal is busy working – despite it being a Friday.
“I am learning the work. I get 300 rupees daily, and my food, drinks, and accommodation are provided by my employer,” he says.
Muhammad Bilal left his school education incomplete in the ninth grade. In Pakistan, it is not just Bilal, but there are millions of children who are out of school and forced to work. On the occasion of an event organized on Child Labour Day, by SPARC, 12-year-old Safiullah is among the other child labourers who are present. Safiullah belongs to Abbottabad in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He says that every morning at six o’clock, he leaves home for the Pindi vegetable market and works there until three o’clock in the afternoon.
“It is a necessity,” he says. We have a milk shop, which my father and brother run, but the household expenses cannot be managed through it. The house is also on rent, and bills also have to be paid. There is no significant profit from the shop either, which is why I then work in the market.”
The United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) has announced to observe this day this year with the message of ‘Red card to child labour, fair play for children, decent work for adults’.
According to ILO data, even today, 138 million children worldwide are forced into child labor, out of which 54 million children are doing extremely dangerous and life-threatening work. ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo, in his message, termed this situation completely unacceptable and emphasized accelerating efforts.
Asiya Arif, Executive Director of SPARC, an organization working for children’s rights, says that there is only a need for implementation on the existing laws in Pakistan. According to her, currently 8.6 million children are performing labor in Pakistan.
“Laws exist, the working ages for children are fourteen at some places and sixteen at others; there is a need to bring this to equality. Children and their families should be brought into the social safety net, as I mentioned there is the Benazir Income Support Programme, Pakistan Bait-ul-Maal, in which special relaxation should be given for out-of-school children. There is a need to give them relaxation in this so that their parents send them to school instead of work.”
According to Member of National Assembly (MNA) and Convenor of the ‘Parliamentary Caucus on Child Rights’ Dr. Nighat Shakeel, the number of out-of-school and labouring children is increasing day by day. According to her, the government is working, but she also admits that if the government and responsible departments had fulfilled their responsibility completely, perhaps today the situation would not be like this.
“We have a lot of out-of-school children, that is because perhaps we are not able to provide them with the facilities they need. If parents have money, no one desires for their child to be out of school and to send them for work. The fundamental problem is poverty. If the government had worked completely, the ratio of out-of-school children would be less. Efforts are being made, but perhaps the whole of Pakistan is surrounded by these problems due to poverty, and its solution is becoming a bit difficult.”
Clear injunctions against child labor exist in Pakistan’s constitution and prevailing laws. There is a strict prohibition on employing children under 14 years of age in any factory, mine, or physically dangerous place in the country. Employing a child under 16 years of age can lead to a fine of up to 20 thousand rupees, one year imprisonment, or both punishments can be given simultaneously. Committing the same crime again carries a mandatory punishment of a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 2 years of imprisonment.
Nabila Aslam, journalist and representative of the non-governmental organization PODA, says it is the need of the hour that along with basic education, there is a need to provide skills to children.
“There should be at least twelve grades of education, and along with that, skills should also be taught so that they are prepared for their future practical life.”
Despite the presence of laws, the graph of child labor in the country is constantly rising. According to experts, these laws are either insufficient according to the requirements of the time, or the system of their implementation is extremely weak. If seriousness is demonstrated at the government level by strictly enforcing the accountability system and laws, the eradication of child labor from Pakistan is possible.